Refering customers to another florist - Anyone ever try this???

[fairfield]

Customer in the store or on the phone wants to send an out-of-town order.

Here is my sales pitch. "I am more than happy to send it for you, or, if you would like to save some money I can give you the toll-free phone number to a local florist in the area you are sending to and you can place your order directly with them."

90% of the time they will say, "Yes. I would like that." (The remaining 10% are either paying with cash/check or they insist on giving me their business.)

I always follow this up with, "I want you to understand that I am not sluffing you off onto someone else. I am simply giving you a choice and cutting out the middle-man." (My customers are ALWAYS appreciative of this whether or not they do it.)

I also mention flowershopnetwork.com for future orders they may be sending. I also urge them to phone-in the order and not to order off the web site.

Finally, I make sure they understand to call me if they have any problems.

Here are some side effects I've noticed:
I don't make any money on that transaction, but:
- I don't have a headache because of wrong customer info or another shop's misstep.
- I don't have to refund any money because the Dove routed the order to Ken Kesey c/o The Milky Way.
- My customer is happy to save money.
- I earned that customers local business.
- They get the opportunity to have a relationship with my fellow florist.
- Neither does a fee collection service like TF or FTD.

Imagine, if most shops did this...

 

[sfox]

why

What I don't understand is why? Do you realize just jow much money it costs to get a customer to come into your store?

And here you already have customers, who came into your store, with the idea of spending money with you. You know this because they already had a need....the sending of flowers to some other part of the country. Now these people came to you because you were their florist. They must have already trusted you as the right florist to do business with. Why would you turn an opportunity to make money away? Now I could see not charging a service fee for sending the order, but why turn away a chance to make money?

And by letting your customer order directly from some other florist in a far away city, is not really satisifying their needs.

First, you have no idea if the florist whose name you gave them will in fact do a good job handling this order.

Second, you forced the customer to do work that maybe they really didn't want to do, that's why they came to you in the first place.

Third, if they do have a problem, they have to deal with someone far away instead of walking in to their own local florist shop and dealing with someone who they know and trust.

I know I lose money on every inwire I fill. But I fill every inwire just as though it was one of my own full paying walk in customers. Why because, I hope that the florists I send my orders to do the same for me and that the real winners are the customer who ordered the flowers and the person who recieved the flowers. If that happens then we as florists win because we filled the consumers needs in a professional manner and we gave the consumer who buys flowers trust in florists.

 

[theRKF]

A solid & wholehearted "Amen" and "ditto." I want to be the contact point for my customers. If they want flowers, they know to call me. Not me, and 45 other shops scattered around the world. It's real customer service, in my opinion, to be a one-stop, one-call, convenient source for floral satisfaction.

When the rare problem does occur, my customers know that we'll make it right for them. Instead of being a one-off customer to some shop halfway across the continent, they are a preferred frequent customer of Martin's and they know we'll give good service, partly because of their frequency.

For every story I read hear about customers being joyfully redirected to another florist, I have a story about a frustrated customer who called me because their florist refused to send out of town. We keep those customers ... they like the convenience of having a single contact point.

Ryan

 

[Rhonda]

YES, I do, especially those who complain when I tell them there is a minimum of $45.00, $6.95 service charge plus filling shops delivery and sales tax.
YES, many shops list higher minimums JUST for listings in the ws books. AND my customer may wish just a small mixed vase, budvase, etc.
I gladly give them the phone numbers and yes, I have had them come back in to tell me that the order was filled at a much less cost.
I have no problems with it at all. That customer will remember that I saved them money sending out of town and DO come back to me to place their local orders. Have had this instance just this month over 5 times and they were NOT customers of mine at the time they initially came in, now they are.
Let me also say, I do send through the ws for my long time customers who do not have a care of cost, who send repeatedly and constantly to specific areas. If they are pleased with who we send through (I keep track) we continue to gladly send for them. It is mostly money challenged, specific-very specific requests, or those who want to know exactly what they can get for specific $$ that I give numbers to.

 

[CHR]

While I agree in principle with Sfox and Infinite, I'm curious how your shops handled requests for out-of-town delivery late on the 13th and on Valentine's Day itself.

We had zero luck placing last minute orders and spent a lot of time trying to accommodate those buyers. (Only two were accepted by shops - but neither got delivered.) With prices all over the map (roses ranged from $80-120), the coordination was time-consuming. Take the order, make a bunch of disclaimers, get second choices, contact florists, call customer back with final price and then have them repeatedly call during the day to check on delivery status.

Of course we want to be considered the one-stop source for flowers but when we are seen as the ones 'failing to deliver' and expend valuable resources with zero (or negative) dollars to show for it I'm starting to fall into the 'here are some local shop's numbers' camp for these types of orders.

When I read Herb's post about how TF was giving consumers his phone number to check on their delivery status (a verboten tactic for all of us not long ago) it reaffirmed how consumers are best served with direct access to their delivering florist. Hope he was able to capture the contact info for those shoppers for future marketing.

 

[sfox]

To Chr

CHR, how do we handle customers asking for delivery on FEB 14 or for that matter any day of the year. The answer is honestly.

If we had already stopped accepting delivery orders for the day then we extend the same to the potential filling florist.

When we talk to the sender about pricing, we do that honestly. We simply tell them that, let's say they want to send flowers to New York, we explain that we have to charge them the going prices for products in the area. We explain that many areas of the country have much higher costs of living than in our area. So we sell to the standard of the area it is going to. If you explain that in a professional manner, almost everyone understands. Most people will comment that "Yea they know how expensive it is to live there."

The problem many florists have is that they don't sell properly. Almost every customer complaint could be avoided at the point of sale, just if the seller does a good job and this goes for wire orders or orders you do in your store. Don't sell the sender an arrangement that features flowers that you know you couldn't get if they wanted that arrangement from you. Treat the filling florist just like you would a customer standing in front of you. Honestly.

 

[BBJ (Big Bad John)]

The problem many florists have is that they don't sell properly. Almost every customer complaint could be avoided at the point of sale, just if the seller does a good job and this goes for wire orders or orders you do in your store. Don't sell the sender an arrangement that features flowers that you know you couldn't get if they wanted that arrangement from you. Treat the filling florist just like you would a customer standing in front of you. Honestly.

100% correct..........and that's even more true for OG's as they have no clue at all!!!!!

 

[PhillyPhlorist]

While I agree in principle with Sfox and Infinite, I'm curious how your shops handled requests for out-of-town delivery late on the 13th and on Valentine's Day itself.

I am in TOTAL agreement with Infinite and Sfox. Ummm...if you do what fairfield is saying, they why be a member of a W/S??? Just for those 'old customers'??? Doesn't seem economically worth it to me. Sure give them a number of a shop if they request it, but to voluntarily give it out???

Offering to relay an order for someone is a SERVICE...something we sell, guarantee, and charge accordingly for. Sure, they could go online....but some DON'T WANT TO...

Sfox is also correct on the late-order answer. Use common sense - if you're going nuts at 3pm, and a customer calls requesting an order for out of town, tell them like it is! "50/50 chance at best given the late hour you are calling." Heck, I wired two orders out around 2pm for NC and FL - both rejected - they even had 2/15 delivery dates on them, but said "WOULD LIKE TO GO TODAY IF AT ALL POSSIBLE."
Re-sent both the morning of the 15th...

When I read Herb's post about how TF was giving consumers his phone number to check on their delivery status (a verboten tactic for all of us not long ago) it reaffirmed how consumers are best served with direct access to their delivering florist. Hope he was able to capture the contact info for those shoppers for future marketing.

Nope, no time at 2pm on the 14th to capture, let alone explain as to why I wanted, their information. TOOO bizzy filling local orders! At 3:15pm on the 14th, we hade 35 people in the store waiting to be helped...gulp. Also, I am STILL against having the sending shop's customer contact ME for a delivery confirmation. Not what the 'service' part is all about on wire orders. Also, florists should know how to handle a call from a customer wanting a del. conf. in the middle of the day on V-day. Don't know about you folks, but we have no timed deliveries that day, and inform the customer AT THE TIME OF THE ORDER, that their delivery will be delivered during normal biz hours, by 5pm (if going to the work place...).


- Herb

 

[Mikey the Flower Guy]

as I SEE IT Herb.....

TF had NO BUSINESS passing on YOUR phone number without a cost attached to THEM!!
What a stupid thing to do...real stupid!!

 

[theRKF]

Agreed - stupid. I know of at least one local shop in Toronto that was doing this to a contract driver who serves several shops. He was bombarded with calls from customers while trying to do his do ... that shop has been removed from his client list, as of the 15th

As for last minute orders, we were still taking orders right through until 3-4pm on the 14th. Depending on the area, we gave different promises of delivery. The only wire out problems were on orders placed in a reasonable amount of time

Ryan

 

[Pam]

It depends on the situation ........

we handle the majority of outgoing orders but there are cases when it is in the best interest of the customer or the shop to have the customer call direct. You have to know when to help them and how. If I have someone who wants to know every detail, right up the the number of petals each rose will have then it is in both our interests to have the filling shop talk to the customer. If someone is, for example, trying to get sympathy flowers to a memorial service and they don't know how to do it and who to talk with, then it is in both our interests to have us do the legwork for the customer. Learn to read the customer and help them the best you can. Like so many other issues in this business and on this forum, what is good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander.

 

[fairfield]

There is some confusion here that I would like to straighten out. I am only offering my customer a CHOICE. Have you ever bought a car, ring, box of cereal or computer from a store that offered only one choice? Are all florist shops the same? Is that what customers want? NO! Customers want choice and I give it to them. As far as one-stop floral shopping goes, that is a great idea! In our shop, however, I have to be realistic and understand that we don't have everything all the time for the lowest price.

I am not turning down any customer money, either. If they like, I will send the order for them and, yes, I do charge for it. Again, it's their choice. Just like it was my choice to stop a $251.00 a month net loss with Teleflora.

I do appreciate all of the comments so far. I have been very successful with this approach for the two years and just thought someone else might have similar experience with new ideas. I am also trying FSN's sending program when we do send the order. Any experience or thoughts on it?

 

[Joe Mioux]

The "S" stands for Service in AFS wireservice.

That was a great slogan and I sort of miss the old AFS wireservice because they did stand for service and florist education programs!

Your business as well as my business should stand for service. If a florist knows what they are doing and are knowledgeable of the U.S. floral industry, then you should assist your ( I can't overemphasize your customer) customer. YOU are provding them with a service.

You, as their personal florist, should be the middleman and helping them understand that a certain petal count (as mentioned) in a previous post is not possible.

Don't pass the buck to your fellow florist. You as the sending florist are responsible!

We have several out-of-town customers who use us....no....DEPEND ON US....to send out there orders. We provide a service to them becuase we know the floral industry better than them!

Case-in-point. One of our best out-of-town-outgoing-wireorder-senders called me at 1:30 PM central time Valetines Day. He wanted to send two orders. One to Virginia (eastern time) and one to Chicago. I told him "Roger there is no way - no how we are going to get these Vday flowers sent and delivered today," but "we will try."

Guess what, the Chicago delivery got made Vday and the VA delivery will be made on on Monday because the recipient was flying out of town at 11:00am 15-Feb. We coordinated with the receiving florist in VA to make the delivery on Monday.

Now that is a service that your customer will appreciate.

Fairfield, you are passing the buck and not providing a service to your customer. If you really want to assist your local customer, why don't you do the sending and tell the receiving florist to fill it full value and then give that florist 100 pct of the order.

It is up to you whether you think you should charge your customer a service fee for your assistance.

Joe

 

[fairfield]

I don't understand how CHOICE devolves into passing the buck. I guess maybe I should go back to TF and use their very expensive self-serving 'service' and their selection guide with it's over-priced arrangements. Then when sending an order, I simply type up the order into Dove, select a shop, and roll the dice. BOY, NOW THAT'S SERVICE!
MY customers are worth more to me than that! AND, I give them credit for using that thing on their shoulders. After all, the orders I get from out of state have skyrocketed. Even from Illinois. I think it kind of me to return the favor.

 

[Joe Mioux]

I don't understand how CHOICE devolves into passing the buck. I guess maybe I should go back to TF and use their very expensive self-serving 'service' and their selection guide with it's over-priced arrangements. Then when sending an order, I simply type up the order into Dove, select a shop, and roll the dice. BOY, NOW THAT'S SERVICE!
MY customers are worth more to me than that! AND, I give them credit for using that thing on their shoulders. After all, the orders I get from out of state have skyrocketed. Even from Illinois. I think it kind of me to return the favor.

Why don't you take one of your old TF directories and serve your customer. Do a direct order with another florist and give the receiving florist 100 pct of the order.

As your original post's first sentence states. Your customer called you for help. Instead of saying yes "I can help you send your order" you encourage them to call a florist in a distant city. How do you know that the florist in the receiving city can fulfill your customer's order?

You don't and neither does your local customer. However.....

You have the advantage of having a library of knowledge and hopefully an old TF directory where if the first florist can't fulfill the order the second florist can.

Don't inconvenience your customer.

Serve them.

Joe

 

[Lady Biker Florist]

we handle the majority of outgoing orders but there are cases when it is in the best interest of the customer or the shop to have the customer call direct. You have to know when to help them and how. If I have someone who wants to know every detail, right up the the number of petals each rose will have then it is in both our interests to have the filling shop talk to the customer. If someone is, for example, trying to get sympathy flowers to a memorial service and they don't know how to do it and who to talk with, then it is in both our interests to have us do the legwork for the customer. Learn to read the customer and help them the best you can. Like so many other issues in this business and on this forum, what is good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander.

You took the words right out of my mouth. There are times when it's just the right thing to do, but not all the time. In fact, there are definitely cases that it is the wrong thing to do. Been in this business long enough to know the difference now. "You gotta know when to fold em......" and they DO remember! In my case they do anyway!

Fairfield did not say he "encouraged" his customers to call themselves, he simply offers them the option. I don't consider it passing the buck, at least not in a negative way. I know I would rather get the phone call directly from a fussy customer than have it come through a wire service and have 50% of the detail left out or 300% too much detail put in not even inquiring if we can even do it. I think it's customer service at it's best to know when to offer them a direct number. We do it as needed also and have had complaints on wire outs drop to a bare minimum. Wire ins that that we get complaints about are always because of poor selling and I sure wish those florists would have given the customer to me direct as I could then have known what they really wanted.

 

[Joe Mioux]

You took the words right out of my mouth. There are times when it's just the right thing to do, but not all the time. In fact, there are definitely cases that it is the wrong thing to do. Been in this business long enough to know the difference now. "You gotta know when to fold em......" and they DO remember! In my case they do anyway!

Fairfield did not say he "encouraged" his customers to call themselves, he simply offers them the option. I don't consider it passing the buck, at least not in a negative way. I know I would rather get the phone call directly from a fussy customer than have it come through a wire service and have 50% of the detail left out or 300% too much detail put in not even inquiring if we can even do it. I think it's customer service at it's best to know when to offer them a direct number. We do it as needed also and have had complaints on wire outs drop to a bare minimum. Wire ins that that we get complaints about are always because of poor selling and I sure wish those florists would have given the customer to me direct as I could then have known what they really wanted.

A couple pertinent points need to be made.

Fairfield did not state that this is a fussy customer and secondly Lady biker you are assuming that sending florist is incompetent with your 50% ... 300% ... statement.

In addition, the original thread did not quantify this issue as a holiday only issue.

According to Fairfield's original post, and correct me if I am wrong, he/she uses this strategy whenever his/her customer calls him/her for an outgoing order.

Let's keep debate in the context of the original thread.

Joe

 

[Joe Mioux]

Customer in the store or on the phone wants to send an out-of-town order.

Here is my sales pitch. "I am more than happy to send it for you, or, if you would like to save some money I can give you the toll-free phone number to a local florist in the area you are sending to and you can place your order directly with them."

90% of the time they will say, "Yes. I would like that." (The remaining 10% are either paying with cash/check or they insist on giving me their business.)

I always follow this up with, "I want you to understand that I am not sluffing you off onto someone else. I am simply giving you a choice and cutting out the middle-man." (My customers are ALWAYS appreciative of this whether or not they do it.)

I also mention flowershopnetwork.com for future orders they may be sending. I also urge them to phone-in the order and not to order off the web site.

Finally, I make sure they understand to call me if they have any problems.

Here are some side effects I've noticed:
I don't make any money on that transaction, but:
- I don't have a headache because of wrong customer info or another shop's misstep.
- I don't have to refund any money because the Dove routed the order to Ken Kesey c/o The Milky Way.
- My customer is happy to save money.
- I earned that customers local business.
- They get the opportunity to have a relationship with my fellow florist.
- Neither does a fee collection service like TF or FTD.

Imagine, if most shops did this...

I am on a roll here so I will continue......

Fair, when you tell the customer that "I am not sluffing you off onto someone else", I take that to mean you are doing just that.

Your customer called you. not a florist in a distant city, they could go on the internet and get the name of a florist in the receiving city.

They called you for a reason! The customer values your expertise!

"(My customers are ALWAYS appreciative of this whether or not they do it.)"

That is wishfull thinking on your part. You can not possibly know that ALL your customers appreciate this tactic.

"Finally, I make sure they understand to call me if they have any problems."

This is why they called you in the first place. If there is a problem your customer wants you to handle it.

"Here are some side effects I've noticed:
I don't make any money on that transaction, but:
- I don't have a headache because of wrong customer info or another shop's misstep."

O.K. you are not in it for the money, not necessarily a commenable trait for a businessperson.

"wrong customer or another shop's misstep" you don't want to be bothered or you think that your customer or the receiving florist is stupid.

" I earned that customers local business" That is an assumption on your part.

"- They get the opportunity to have a relationship with my fellow florist." how does that benefit you, your customer or the receiving florist. This maybe and probably is a one time only sale to that city. Even if it is a recurring sale, such as a relative sending for regular occaissions you lose out earning money from the sale. You are in business to make money, don't turn sales away.

"- Neither does a fee collection... " You don't have to accept a commission for the sale. Give it all to the receiving florist.

If you are not in business to make money then why?

Joe

 

[Lady Biker Florist]

A couple pertinent points need to be made.

Fairfield did not state that this is a fussy customer and secondly Lady biker you are assuming that sending florist is incompetent with your 50% ... 300% ... statement.

In addition, the original thread did not quantify this issue as a holiday only issue.

According to Fairfield's original post, and correct me if I am wrong, he/she uses this strategy whenever his/her customer calls him/her for an outgoing order.

Let's keep debate in the context of the original thread.

Joe

I've read and re-read this thread and my post is in context with the original post and very much so. Never mentioned anything about a holiday, so don't know where that came from. Mostly noticed you said fairfield "enouraged" his customers to call and order themselves and that is just not what he said, but perhaps you interpret what he said as encouraging them to do so.

It's just not a one size fits all approach. I have customers who would not want to do it themselves even if it saved them a lot of money as they obviously see my service as worth the cost, but there are also many who are quite capable of taking care of ordering their own flowers and also quite capable of handling problems. They are just people and people are vastly different from each other and I'm just sayin'...........sometimes passing on a florist's or in my case usually three florists phone numbers makes some people really happy.

 

[Joe Mioux]

I've read and re-read this thread and my post is in context with the original post and very much so. Never mentioned anything about a holiday, so don't know where that came from. Mostly noticed you said fairfield "enouraged" his customers to call and order themselves and that is just not what he said, but perhaps you interpret what he said as encouraging them to do so.

It's just not a one size fits all approach. I have customers who would not want to do it themselves even if it saved them a lot of money as they obviously see my service as worth the cost, but there are also many who are quite capable of taking care of ordering their own flowers and also quite capable of handling problems. They are just people and people are vastly different from each other and I'm just sayin'...........sometimes passing on a florist's or in my case usually three florists phone numbers makes some people really happy.

Read it again especially the last part.